Musings of an antipodean contrarian

The ACL does its job well

The Victorian Council of Churches has complained at what it sees as the one-sided view of Christianity portrayed in the Australian media.

General Secretary Theo Mackaay said there was “growing concern amongst member churches that their voices are not heard or considered because of the media’s reliance on groups like [the Australian Christian Lobby].”

Let’s be clear about this. The ACL is a political lobby. It does its job well. It consults widely with church leaders, seeks consensus and clarification, respects differences of opinion among church leaders, and represents the interests of a large number of Bible-believing Christians.

Certain mainstream churches have a policy of shunning the ACL and not attending meetings convened by the lobby group. No wonder these churches (and the ecumenical councils they dominate) find it uncomfortable when the ACL receives media attention. The media too are just doing their job.

If the Victorian Council of Churches and similar organisations stopped whingeing and got on with doing their job, perhaps there would be no need for an independent Australian Christian Lobby.